My grandfather was in WW1. He was in the army and served in the trenches. Before I left for the USAF I got a chance to sit down with him and ask him about it. As far as I know I'm the only one in the family he ever talked to about it.
He told me about the first time they went over the top and his best friend, who was right next to him, got his head taken off my an artillery shell. He told me that it looked like hell, that it was hell on Earth. He used that last phrase more than once. That every tree had lost every limb. That the ground was covered in blood and human flesh from all of the people who'd been blown up by the shelling. That the tree trunks were covered in blood and flesh as well.
At some point during his time there he was seriously wounded by a shell and laid unconscious in the bottom of a trench for days. They were mustard gassed while he was unconscious and some unknown soldier put his gas mask on him - even though many thought he was dead - otherwise he would have died there.
He spent months in a hospital in France after that. His leg had been shattered and it took a long time to heel and recover from that.
When I talked to him, it was over 60 years since the war, but to him it wasn't that long ago at all.
I've known many WW2 veterans. I've heard a lot of their stories. WW1 was by far, a much worse war and took a much heavier toll, on the people who fought it.
My dad enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939. He became a pilot and was commissioned in 1943. He flew cargo planes, ferried paratroopers, towed gliders and landed in grass fields under German fire with loads of 5 gallon Jerry cans of gasoline to supply the Army's advance. In the Korean War, he flew unescorted SIGINT missions over North Korea. He lost lots of friends. He had nightmares about it all for his whole life. I always thought of dad whenever I thought I was having a "tough time" in my service.
My Grandfather served with an Australian combat unit on the Western Front for three years. His diary entry for the 11th of November 1918 has the single sentence, “We hear that an armistice has been signed” before continuing with the business of the day, the needs of the Battery and the people that he knew. He wasn’t excited…. and I suspect that after so many disappointments , his focus was on doing his job, one day at a time.
Twenty-one years later, he was again on active service in WW2.
Thankyou for remembering Australia, ANZAC and Gallipoli. I have a Great-Uncle who still lies there - grave unkown - and another who suffered a nervous breakdown.
My grandfather was in WW1. He was in the army and served in the trenches. Before I left for the USAF I got a chance to sit down with him and ask him about it. As far as I know I'm the only one in the family he ever talked to about it.
He told me about the first time they went over the top and his best friend, who was right next to him, got his head taken off my an artillery shell. He told me that it looked like hell, that it was hell on Earth. He used that last phrase more than once. That every tree had lost every limb. That the ground was covered in blood and human flesh from all of the people who'd been blown up by the shelling. That the tree trunks were covered in blood and flesh as well.
At some point during his time there he was seriously wounded by a shell and laid unconscious in the bottom of a trench for days. They were mustard gassed while he was unconscious and some unknown soldier put his gas mask on him - even though many thought he was dead - otherwise he would have died there.
He spent months in a hospital in France after that. His leg had been shattered and it took a long time to heel and recover from that.
When I talked to him, it was over 60 years since the war, but to him it wasn't that long ago at all.
I've known many WW2 veterans. I've heard a lot of their stories. WW1 was by far, a much worse war and took a much heavier toll, on the people who fought it.
My dad enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939. He became a pilot and was commissioned in 1943. He flew cargo planes, ferried paratroopers, towed gliders and landed in grass fields under German fire with loads of 5 gallon Jerry cans of gasoline to supply the Army's advance. In the Korean War, he flew unescorted SIGINT missions over North Korea. He lost lots of friends. He had nightmares about it all for his whole life. I always thought of dad whenever I thought I was having a "tough time" in my service.
Thank you, Sir, for the sacrifices you made and still make in service to our country; you have my utmost respect
My Grandfather served with an Australian combat unit on the Western Front for three years. His diary entry for the 11th of November 1918 has the single sentence, “We hear that an armistice has been signed” before continuing with the business of the day, the needs of the Battery and the people that he knew. He wasn’t excited…. and I suspect that after so many disappointments , his focus was on doing his job, one day at a time.
Twenty-one years later, he was again on active service in WW2.
Thankyou for remembering Australia, ANZAC and Gallipoli. I have a Great-Uncle who still lies there - grave unkown - and another who suffered a nervous breakdown.
Lest We Forget.
Every time I hear that recording I get goosebumps.
I have my Grandfather’s diary of the First World War. He saw active duty on the Western Front for three years. The entry for the 11th of November 1918